Lower back sore from squats

[danato138]

I know this has probably been asked but I couldn't find it searching.

So my lower back gets sore after squating. It's right above my butt in the center. It's definitely a muscle soreness. It doesn't hurt while doing the squat but right after. Usually goes away the next day.

Any ideas on what could be causing it?

[victor12]

I know this has probably been asked but I couldn't find it searching.

So my lower back gets sore after squating. It's right above my butt in the center. It's definitely a muscle soreness. It doesn't hurt while doing the squat but right after. Usually goes away the next day.

Any ideas on what could be causing it?

Squats workout your lower back as well.

[labradarep]

You have to stabilize with your core. Your lower back is part of your core. Therefore you will also be working lower back , indirectly, when squatting. Another factor that may come into play is that your form may be incorrect. Thus you may be overloading your low back during certain portions of the lift.

Sometimes as you progressively overload(ie: become stronger & increase the intensity) your stabilizing musculature may lag behind a bit from the Prime movers. Thus, the low back soreness.

There are many factors that come into play here. It is very hard to pin point without seeing you squat.

[danato138]

I was under the impression that it meant I was doing something wrong.

[danato138]

You have to stabilize with your core. Your lower back is part of your core. Therefore you will also be working lower back , indirectly, when squatting. Another factor that may come into play is that your form may be incorrect. Thus you may be overloading your low back during certain portions of the lift.

Sometimes as you progressively overload(ie: become stronger & increase the intensity) your stabilizing musculature may lag behind a bit from the Prime movers. Thus, the low back soreness.

There are many factors that come into play here. It is very hard to pin point without seeing you squat.

yeah Im working on getting a vid. I'm doing rippetoe's and have only been squating for like 3 weeks. I made sure to get my form down before uping the weight so I don't think my form is bad. I could be wrong though

[NYPDCalvin]

Its normal, my lower back got sore when I first started squatting. Just keep at it and your back will catch up.

[DAVEZILLA]

front squats would lessen the stress on the lower back...

[xk5]

Your lower back can definitely get sore on squats even with correct form.

I have had a couple instances though where on my last rep I did essentially a "good morning" and then it got REAL sore .

When I was doing Rippetoe's I found that the constant increase in my squat weight and doing 5 rep maxes was very taxing on the back due to the heavy weight and if your form breaks down on a 5RM it can be rather unpleasant. And then there's the deadlifts half the time as well! Lately I've been doing a 10-12 max on a different program and it doesn't seem to bug my back as much, if I do botch the form on my last rep it's not gonna kill me.

As the poster above said your back may need some time to catch up since you are just starting to squat, a couple times on that program I actually held my weight the same the next time even though I had done 3x5 because I felt like my form wasn't ideal...

[JamesYancey]

do you wear a belt?

I would wear a belt when squatting, it helps a lot

maybe work on form?

[crupiea]

Stretch your hamstrings between warm up sets and it will help alot.

[danato138]

Thanks for all the replies. So maybe I shouldn't be so worried about it then. My lower back is definitely not one of my strong points. I'm gonna try to get a video Monday and see what that can tell me.

[SB100%Natural]

I was under the impression that it meant I was doing something wrong.

Hard to see if you are doing anything wrong without video. Lower back soreness is normal when you start doing squats, especially if you lack flexibility and haveis a lot of forward lean in your technique. If the problem isn't due to excessive forward lean, then you probably just have a weak lower back which will in time get stronger and the lower back soreness should become less of an issue.

General muscles soreness in the lower back after squatting is nothing serious.

[danato138]

Hard to see if you are doing anything wrong without video. Lower back soreness is normal when you start doing squats, especially if you lack flexibility and haveis a lot of forward lean in your technique. If the problem isn't due to excessive forward lean, then you probably just have a weak lower back which will in time get stronger and the lower back soreness should become less of an issue.

General muscles soreness in the lower back after squatting is nothing serious.

I probably do lean a little to much. Thanks for the advice.

[klir_2m]

Doing squats with weight on your back causes your spinal erectors to maintain heavy isometric contraction for an extended period of time. This is a good thing. Spinal erectors are designed for this kind of work. Squats will strengthen your lower back. Soreness is totally normal. You've applied a heavy stress to the low back muscles, which it will adapt to by becoming stronger.

[GoJu]

absolutley noone is completely upright when squatting, forward lean is normal

stretching hips and hamstrings will reduce strain by forcing the correct muscles to do the job

you should arch your lower back and keep your upper back, core and glutes tight

a belt helps but shouldn't be used as a crutch

[JC480]

I don't know how long you've been lifting, but you learn to listen to your body after a while.

There are two kinds of pain you need to understand, especially if you do squats.

There is that general soreness pain...it doesn't hurt but you're stiff, sore and move a bit slower. Generally accepted as a side effect of pushing yourself past the comfort level or trying something new.

Then there is strain pain...strain pain hurts when you make certain moves...and it just plain hurts. It feels like something is "wrong" or you "strained yourself" or "popped something". This means you did something wrong...the severity of the pain and how long it lasts indicate whether you need to take it easy or seek medical attention.

Anyway, like other people said...when you first start doing squats, you get sore in all sorts of places because this exercise is serious business. Make sure you get your form down cold because this exercise, while awesome for growth, can mess you up if you do it wrong.

[agurkas]

In my case, I fixed my lower back issue with squats by using a machine to work lower back every day I work out. This way I got those spinal erector muscles getting used the fact I will be hammering them. Especially when you are just starting out, spinal erectors are darn weak.
Got to get those muscles used to being loaded at those angles.

[Ironlife]

As mentioned your lower back is heavily involved in this lift.

[Piano]

I also get this

[ygbodybuilder10]

i just started doing back squats again some weeks ago and aftet i was done i remember why i had stop, my lower back was tight as hell.

THATS WHY I FUC-K WITH FRONT AQUATS

[Grimbeard]

i found that tightening my stomach and back when i squat has reduced the lower back soreness significantly.

[danato138]

Finally got a video. I'll post it in a few if it lets me.

[danato138]

Here's two videos let me know what you think. The weight is 185

[musicianman]

Looks fine to me, though I have to say taking off your shoes might help your balance a little bit.

[derekk1]

depends if hes got running shoes, i cant tell. if the shoes are flat, they shouldnt be a problem.

[chazzy1864]

can't watch the videos at work.

If you use a high bar for squat, then you will feel more pressure on your lower back than a low bar.

However, your lower back is involved in the lift to hold everything tight. Having muscle soreness should lessen as you get more used to the lift.

[FullMetal]

When doing squats you have to know the difference between a lower back injury or your lower back getting pumped. Some people cannot take the pump and think they must be doing something wrong or are just overall weak minded.

As for your videos, drop the weight so that you can break parallel. I can tell in the second video that you want to go deeper, but just don't have confidence in making it out of the hole for all of the repetitions. Make sure to stay tight throughout the whole movement.

[danato138]

depends if hes got running shoes, i cant tell. if the shoes are flat, they shouldnt be a problem.

They're cross training shoes. So yeah kinda like running shoes. As for squatting in socks I think I'd feel kinda weird being in socks in the gym.

When doing squats you have to know the difference between a lower back injury or your lower back getting pumped. Some people cannot take the pump and think they must be doing something wrong or are just overall weak minded.

As for your videos, drop the weight so that you can break parallel. I can tell in the second video that you want to go deeper, but just don't have confidence in making it out of the hole for all of the repetitions. Make sure to stay tight throughout the whole movement.

Will try

[FullMetal]

I like how this one gets moved, yet the thread just posting retarded .gifs stays in the exercise section.

[RockyIV]

Stretch your hamstrings between warm up sets and it will help alot.

x2 I found that when I started to focus on flexibility my lower back soreness went down and was able to squat and deadlift heavy withing a couple of days which I was unable to do before.